Rumen Micro-organisms in Red Deer, Hill Sheep and Reindeer in the Scottish Highlands

Abstract

The microorganisms in rumen samples from Red deer, hill sheep and reindeer grazing their natural pastures in the Scottish Highlands were examined at different seasons for a number of years. The total bacteria and protozoa counts varied seasonally, and were lowest in winter when fermentative activity was also lowest. As is usual in roughage-fed ruminants, viable counts were only a very small proportion of the total counts. The reindeer rumens had the highest concentrations of bacteria. There were no consistent seasonal differences in the types of bacteria, and although there were no bacteria peculiar to any animal species the balance of predominant types varied. The principal bacteria were similar to those found in domesticated ruminants. The numbers of protozoa in the Red deer were higher than those in the sheep, and the concentrations in reindeer were higher than those generally reported for domesticated cattle or sheep. A number of species of protozoa were found in each animal and the predominant species differed in the different animals.